Article by
Archbishop Kevin
published in
'The Tablet'
24th April 2010

“Meeting God in Friend and Stranger”

Archbishop Kevin McDonald presents the new document on
interreligious dialogue from the Bishops’ Conference of England
and Wales

The need for the document

It is a sign of the times that the Bishops’ Conference of England
and Wales has decided to publish a teaching document on
interreligous dialogue. This new publication, entitled Meeting God
in Friend and Stranger, is timely in a number of ways. The most
obvious indication for a document of this kind is simply the
urgency of the issue itself.

It becomes clearer every day that good relations between the
religions of the world are a vital prerequisite for peace and for
the well-being of local communities worldwide. It is now
increasingly appreciated that there can be no peace in the world
without peace between religions. A century ago, I do not think
that the maxim would have been self-evident at all, but today its
truth becomes more compelling with every news bulletin.

This is not, of course, to acquiesce in the facile view that
religion causes wars. It is however to acknowledge that many of
the conflicts in the world today are between groups who belong to
different religions and do have a religious dimension to them:
moreover extremist elements will indeed see conflicts in religious
terms.

This document offers a contribution to the quest for peace from a
Catholic theological perspective. That said, it is good at the
outset to address a particular issue about interreligious
relations and, indeed, about this document, namely the question of
whether the issues of Christian-Muslim relations constitute the
principal motivation for this document and whether
Christian-Muslim relations are the lens through which
interreligious relations are seen.

The answer to these questions is no. As we will see, the Catholic
Church takes all interreligious relations seriously and sees them
all as important for building peace in our world and strengthening
the common good. But it makes significant distinctions in its view
of them. Both Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate – the documents of
Vatican II that directly address interreligious relations –
distinguish between the different religions in terms of the
different ways in which the Church perceives and engages with
them.

In that context, the Church has a particular respect for Islam as
one of the three Abrahamic faiths. But that is part of a bigger
cultural and theological picture and the topic of the document is
interreligious relations as a whole in all their rich variety and
complexity.

These considerations I hope help to explain part of the rationale
and necessity of this text, namely providing guidance and wisdom
for living the Christian life in the context of the political and
social realities of the world today. Related to this, I would
propose another reason why this text is timely and necessary. It
reinforces and reminds us of the importance of dialogue as one of
the key developments in the catechesis and the whole renewal of
the Church that we associate with the Second Vatican Council.

It goes without saying that Vatican II brought with it something
of a shift in the way the Catholic Church perceived and related to
other Christians, other religions, and, indeed the secular world.
The Church moved to an attitude of much greater openness to
dialogue and greater readiness to find common ground. It is timely
that this perspective be rearticulated and explored in our present
situation.

Dialogue and the Church

Having said that dialogue is a key part of the catechesis of
Vatican II it is also important to keep in mind that this teaching
on dialogue is not an innovation. Rather it is the recovery and
contemporary application of something that has been integral to
the life of the Church from the outset.

In both the Old and the New Testaments, people who do not belong
to the Chosen People figure significantly and are honoured and
respected. Moreover, a dominant theme in St Paul’s exploration of
the Christian faith was the relationship between the new faith in
Jesus as Lord, and the Jewish faith out of which it grew.
Interaction and dialogue between Christian faith and both the
Jewish and Gentile world was part of the story of how Christianity
established and developed its identity.

This continued to be the case after the New Testament era and it
is a notion that has been richly explored in the writings of Pope
Benedict XVI where a recurring theme is the wisdom of the Greek
world in which Christianity grew and developed. The Pope clearly
sees the interface and cross-fertilisation between the biblical
witness and the intellectual tradition of the Greek world as
something that did not happen by accident but was actually in the
providence of God.

It was, for example, the dialogue between the biblical witness to
Christ and the Greek concepts of person and nature that enabled
the Church to provide the definitive teaching about Jesus Christ
that we find in the early Councils. So Christianity developed as a
religion precisely in a process of dialogue with the secular
world.

That said, we must also acknowledge the explicit use of the word
‘dialogue’ for explaining the nature of Christianity in our times.
A crucial text for the contemporary appropriation and exploration
of this term within the church is the encyclical Ecclesiam Suam of
Pope Paul VI. Published during the Council, when the key documents
on dialogue were in gestation, it is a seminal document in that it
shows how dialogue is a fundamental element in Christianity.

“Here, then, Venerable Brothers, is the noble origin of this
dialogue: in the mind of God himself. Religion of its very nature
is a certain relationship between God and man. It finds its
expression in prayer, and prayer is a dialogue. Revelation, too,
that supernatural link which God has established with man, can
likewise be looked upon as dialogue.” (ES, 70)

What the Second Vatican Council did was to explore the
significance of the idea of dialogue for the Church and world of
today. In fact the idea of dialogue permeates the whole of the
conciliar teaching but it is explored in a very explicit way in
three areas.

One is, of course, ecumenism. The decree Unitatis Redintegratio
proposed dialogue as the means whereby divided Christianity could
move from partial communion to full communion of faith and
sacramental life.

Fifty years on formidable obstacles have emerged and so the work
is still very much in progress. The Church however remains
obstinately open to dialogue and arguments for any withdrawal
usually fail to take into account the importance of dialogue for
the Church itself.

Then, dialogue was also the key tool for developing interreligious
relations. These are, of course, different from ecumenical
relations since the objective cannot be unity of faith leading to
full communion. The objectives are different but nonetheless
crucial for the Church and the world. The Catholic Church offers a
theological and cultural framework for interreligious dialogue and
a substantial section of the new document is taken up with
presenting that. This framework is firmly rooted in Catholic
ecclesiological principles and it is precisely from this
perspective that it seeks a response from members of other
religions.

Our understanding of the significance and potential of
interreligious dialogue has undergone significant development
since the time of Vatican II. Pope John Paul II in particular left
a vital legacy of both action and teaching. He convened the three
Assisi days when leaders of other Christian World Communions as
well as leaders of other religions came together to pray (but not
to “pray together”). These events were important both as
initiatives in interreligious relations and as a key development
in the understanding and exercise of the primacy of the Bishop of
Rome.

Pope John Paul’s teaching on interreligious dialogue also
constituted a significant advance particularly in terms of what he
said about the action of the Holy Spirit in bringing members of
other religions to salvation. His address to the Roman Curia of
1986 and the encyclical Redemptoris Missio are two particularly
significant texts in this regard.

Thirdly, although not the topic of this document it is important
to note the dialogue with the secular world which finds its
theological justification both in Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et
Spes. That is also part of the picture.

For whom is it written?

It remains to say something about what is in the document but
first it is appropriate to say something about who it is for. The
people to whom the document is most immediately addressed is the
Catholic community in England and Wales. There are many people up
and down this country who have been working hard in this area in
many and various ways. It is hoped that this text will be received
by them as affirmation, encouragement and guidance. It will also
be a good introduction to this aspect of Church life for those who
have little knowledge or experience of it. It is likewise hoped
that the document will be read and used by our fellow Christians,
some of whom have already produced documents and resources on this
subject such as the Church of England’s Presence and Engagement.
The Ecumenical Directory of 1993 encourages ecumenical
collaboration in interreligious dialogue and the present document
would want to promote and facilitate that. Importantly, the
document also has in view members of other religions. It gives an
idea of the basis and the motivation for the Church’s commitment
to interreligious dialogue and invites a response to it. We would
also hope that government at local and national level will give
attention to this document, and also anyone who is concerned about
peace in the world and social cohesion in our society. It is true
that the Government has in recent years shown greater appreciation
of the role of “faith communities” and has wanted to involve them
in social projects in various ways. Unfortunately however, secular
authorities do not always understand the nature of faith or the
ways in which religions think and operate. This text explains how
the Catholic Church perceives and wants to engage with other
religions and it is important that the secular world understands
this dimension of ‘multicultural’ life. In that sense the document
is aimed at all people of good will.

Furthermore, we live in a society where some of the more
aggressive atheists make very negative judgements about religions
without paying sufficient attention to what religions actually say
and how they interact. They see religion as innately superstitious
and aggressive. The document gives a picture of relations between
religions that is potentially positive and open – a picture which
in many instances corresponds with reality - and it does this
while also being realistic about problems and differences. This
should be a helpful corrective to the perception that relations
between religions are necessarily conflictual and potentially
violent. We know both from history and from contemporary
experience that religions can coexist in peace and harmony. So
this document can be read as offering a Catholic cultural and
intellectual basis for positive relations between religions as
well as proposing steps towards the creation of a society based on
openness, acceptance and mutual respect.

Some points from the text

As for the document itself, I will just offer some brief remarks
in relation to the different topics that are dealt with.

The first chapter seeks simply to define interreligious dialogue.
Already in this chapter there are references to the teaching of
Vatican II, subsequent papal teaching and documents of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as well as the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. This is because
the document wants to proceed on the basis of a coherent and
integrated exposition of the teaching of the Church. Chapter 2
looks at the changing face of Britain since the document also
seeks to speak to the realities of our country today. It is
precisely in our current social situation that a culture of
interreligious dialogue is vitally necessary. Chapter 3 is, in a
way, the heart of the document providing a kind of digest of
Church teaching that seeks to be accessible but also
comprehensive. The section begins by drawing attention to the
unique significance of Catholic-Jewish relations. The Vatican II
document, Nostra Aetate was originally intended to be solely about
relations with the Jews. Although it developed to include other
religions, it is still relations with the Jews that receive most
attention in the Conciliar Decree and this reflects the unique
relationship between the Church and the Jewish people who are
frequently referred to in Church teaching as our “elder brother”.
This special position of the Jews reflects a profound theological
reality which is itself reflected in the structures through which
the Church relates to the Jewish world.

The chapter goes on to develop its theological position on the
basis of a strong affirmation of the unity of the human race
within the purposes of God. That theological position is explored
through the maintenance of key distinctions. One is the balance
between the unique saving grace of Christ and the possibility of
salvation for members of other religions through the mysterious
working of the grace of Christ in their lives. Related to this is
the distinction and relationship between ‘dialogue’ and
‘proclamation’. Those two words comprise the title of a key
document produced jointly by the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue. Evangelisation and Dialogue are to be
understood in relation to one another and the analysis in the
document leads clearly beyond the superficial understanding
according to which there is some kind of conflict or competition
between the two. The document goes on to explore the different
kinds or levels of dialogue and this is important because it
becomes clear that everyone is called to dialogue in one form or
another. The section ends with a short section considering ‘new
age’ spirituality.

Chapter 4 deals with the very delicate question of prayer and
worship which is the issue that often raises the most questions.
The document takes the “Assisi” model of Pope John Paul II as
exemplar and guide. Because prayer is an expression of faith,
people of different religions do not pray together. But there is
still much that can be done. At Assisi, people prayed in the
presence of people of other religions, and the event gave currency
to the slogan referred to earlier. “We don’t come to pray together
– we come together to pray”. The document gives prudent and
careful encouragement to Catholics both to invite members of other
religions to be present at Catholic liturgies and to accept
invitations from members of other religions to attend their acts
of worship. Advice is given for the “management” of these
occasions in such a way as to develop mutual understanding and
respect while avoiding any hint of syncretism.

Chapter 5 considers interreligious marriage which is a live
pastoral issue today and is likely to remain so. The document does
not shy away from the very real practical and spiritual problems
to which these marriages can give rise but recognises that they
are a fact of life and gives indications about preparation for
such marriages and pastoral care of people who are in them.

Chapter 6 looks at interreligious work at the local level giving
indications about relations with civil authorities, “local
strategic partnerships”, possibilities and structures at diocesan
and parish level, ecumenical collaboration in interreligious
dialogue, and the question of formation.
Other specific topics are dealt with. Firstly there is the whole
question of interreligious dialogue in Catholic schools. This is a
very significant issue especially for those schools which have a
high proportion of children belonging to other religions. Finally
the document gives some examples of what is happening in different
dioceses and gives important indications about particular
chaplaincy situations, an area in which there can easily be
misunderstandings but where there is also great potential.

It is the hope of those involved in interreligious dialogue on
behalf of the Bishops’ Conference that this text will be widely
read and be a source of real nourishment as well as a reliable
guide. It is envisaged that there will be study materials aimed at
helping people to engage with the important issues the document
raises. This document stands firmly in the tradition of the Church
and finds the roots of its thinking in the scriptures. It also
speaks to the reality of the Church and society of today.

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